Bird species diversity in forest understory: Analysis of mist-net samples

Summary Mist-netted samples of forest understory birds in neotropical (Costa Rica) and temperate (Illinois) forests (during spring migration) supported certain earlier observations: the neotropical understory sample contained more species, more rare species, and more species that use resources not sufficiently available in temperate forest.During spring migration in Illinois, the number of bird species in a mist-netted sample of the community approaches (albeit temporarily) that of neotropical forests and is sometimes even equivalent. But the constitution of these samples seems to be quite different in different regions. Costa Rican samples showed greater within-habitat variability and individual recapture distances were shorter, implying a greater local patchiness of bird distributions than in Illinois in spring.